A Cowboy and an Indian {Very Latergram}

Somehow in the crazy throws of Caleb's 2nd birthday and our trip to Disney, I left out Halloween!
Dylan wanted to be a cowboy, so (of course) Caleb got to be an Indian!  We did trunk-or-treat at church on Halloween night and the entire family got into dressing up for the first time!

A lot of personality!

I just wanted to post a quick update on our littlest guy. Caleb is so much fun right now. He has such a funny, sweet little personality. And he is talking up a storm!

Here are a few words/phrases that make us smile:

Finkles=sprinkles; Fing=spring (anything that has an -sp comes out starting with an -f)

Tur lup=turn it up (referring to the radio)

We don't have key!=(referring to any locomotive/automobile/tractor that we see)

Mc McStuffins=Doc McStuffins 

May later?=maybe later 

May nur time?=maybe another time 

You enjoy singing "wight the fire" and "Compass" by Lady Antebellum. Your favorite part of that song is "oh it's been a bumpy road".

You can count to 10!

You still love to sit and play with toys, specifically: "train tracks"=our mickey train set, twactors, diggers, and cars. You love to "beep beep" them all over the house.

You can work an iPad over and find the Disney Junior app with the swipe and tap of those chubby little finger. (Scary)

You do have quite the girly scream that comes out when you are being silly, and when you get mad at your brother!

Your favorite books right now include: Tractors and The Busy Train Book both by Usborne. And another small book called Tractors that Pop & Mawmaw got him.

Your favorite Christmas song is "Frosty the Snowman" especially the bumpety-bump part at the end.

You sleep with the Mickey that Dylan brought you from Disney World. You also still have a great love for the "fock"=fox.

You call Santa, Christmas, and tell us "I wanna go see him."
You are pure sweetness wrapped up in a little 2 year old funny boy! 

Day7: Disney: {See ya real soon!}

Dylan quotes as we headed home: 

"I'm gonna miss Mickey."

"I'm ready to go see Caleb."

"Ariel is going to miss me."

"Can we go back when I am 5?"

We had a magical time at Disney celebrating Dylan. I think with a 4 year old it was the perfect amount of time away. He was even ready to get back home! 

Of course, we had to wear our new Disney tshirt home! 

He absolutely soaked up those 7 Daddy days! I think it was special quality time for both of them. Jonathan rarely "worked" while we were there which is hard for him because his job is very busy! I was so happy that he took the time to relax and enjoy Dylan. 

I am thankful that we were able to spend quality time with Dylan. Of course, I was very ready to get my arms around my sweet Caleb and I did miss him! But he didn't really ask for me (sniff sniff) and when I saw him at the airport, he immediately said "Where's dy-wan?"

Great memories. Great fun. Already thinking of our trip back with Caleb in 2 years! 

Day 6: Disney: {Dylan's Favorites}

So on our last day at Disney, we made use of the park "hopper" and went back to all of Dylan's favorite rides.

Favorite of the Day: Thunder Mountain Railroad

We ate breakfast in our hotel at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.  It was really good!

Then we headed out to Magic Kingdom first!  This was our only bad weather day.  It was 60 and windy!  We were thankful for our sweatshirts!
We rode:
Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Splash Mountain

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Goofy's Barnstormer
Dylan also finally met Daisy (Fortuna) Duck, and Minnie Mouse in a different princess dress.

Then we headed on over to Epcot {via the monorail} to check out some of the World Showcase and ride our favorite: Soarin'

We had a great lunch at San Angel Inn in Mexico.  We watched the ducks playing in the lake outside our window.

The mini churritas were great!

We road Donald's boat ride in Mexico, too.

Dylan met Snow White at her wishing well in Germany.  We only did half of the countries.  Maybe when the boys are a bit older, we will take more advantage of that.  I really loved looking in all the shops in Germany.

We rode Soarin'!  We LOVE it!

Then we headed back to the hotel for a little break before dinner.

Dinner was at Ohana in the Polynesian Resort.  The food was served family style and it was all-you-can-eat Asian wings, chicken dumplings, noodles, vegetables, pork, shrimp, chicken, and steak.  Oh, and bread pudding with banana fosters cream sauce.

Dylan was super tired by the end of the week.  Looking back, we probably would have tried this dinner earlier in the week, because it was much slower paced than our other meals.  He got pretty restless.  But the food was incredible.  We even sat by the window and had a view of Cinderella's castle all lit up!

My favorite picture of the trip.  Sweet dreams.  Mickey, we will see you again! Real soon!

Disney: Day 5: {Animal Kingdom}

What a fun day at Animal Kingdom!  Dylan loves the zoo and Disney has the "ulitmate" one!  We had a lot of fun this day!  I think that we saw every animal on every self-guided trail!  This boy loves finding all the animals!

Favorite of the Day: Kali River Rapids  "the one where Daddy got wet!"

We played the carnival games in Dino-land and rode the Triceratop Spin.  Dylan won a few a ton of large stuffed animals!

He waited all week to meet Pocahontas.  He's a little bit smitten, and she did not disappoint.  She was wonderful!

We also met:

Balou and King Louie

Donald Duck

Chip and Dale (they got a little too silly and Dylan got embarrassed, but it turned around pretty quickly!)

Winnie the Pooh

and Tigger, too!

I love this anticipation on his face as he waited for his turn to meet Winnie the Pooh!

We loved the Kilamanjaro Safari!

Dylan had fun on Kali River Rapids because "Daddy got wet!"

The Festival of the Lion King show was incredible! Dylan loved it!

Mickey's Jingle Jungle Expedition Parade!

We finished our evening at the Rainforest Cafe right outside of the Animal Kingdom park.

Who wouldn't love a Sparkling Volcano for dessert?!?

Time to be thankful...

 It's kind of easy to remember to be thankful when you are teaching your children to pray and to use manners.  But it also is pretty easy to get caught up in the everyday mundane and forget to thank God for your blessings.  So, here is my "short" list:

• I am so very thankful for my husband and best friend, the man I have called mine now for over 13 years.  He is my rock who loves me unconditionally and accepts me for ME.  
• I am thankful for my eldest, who made me a momma.  His joyous personality is contagious.
•  I am thankful for my youngest, who loves me to the moon and back and likes being right by my side.
• I am also super thankful for my parents who raised me in a Christian home, my awesome in-laws, my sister (who doubles as a best friend) and our extended family as well.
• We are blessed with a host of friends that have been with us through some sad times and a whole lot of happy ones.
• I am thankful for my church family and a place that my boys love to go to learn and grow in Christ.
• I am thankful for a Savior who is patient, righteous and ever-present.  I am thankful that He gives me a whole measure of grace that I most certainly need. 

A few scriptures to reflect on:

"I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever. Amen!" 2 Peter 3:18

"Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Luke 6:38

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

Disney: Day 4 Evening: {Christmas Party}

We decided to purchase tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!  Magic Kingdom closed early and you re-entered for the special party!
After rest time and dinner, we were ready to party!  The party included:
*Disney Christmas music *Snow on Main St. *Cookies & Hot Cocoa *Short wait times *Parade with Santa

Favorite of the Party:  Seeing the Seven "Dorfs" & Seeing Santa

Ready to go!

We rode 3 of Dylan's favorites before the parade: Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid, and Buzz Lightyear.  

Mommy and Dylan waited in line to meet these guys while Daddy got us a spot for the parade!

Apparently, meeting the Seven Dwarfs is huge!  They rarely make appearances, and when they do, their wait times can exceed 2 hours!  So excited we only waited about 25 minutes!

Parade:

Hands down one of my favorite videos of all time!